Method for executing managment operation by communication terminal and a terminal and system thereof

ABSTRACT

A method for executing a management operation by a terminal in a communications system. The method comprises the followings: The terminal receives the management operation commands that indicate the operation to target operation nodes in the device capability management object and operates them. The said operation initiates the process for executing the corresponding device capability management operation, then the said management operation transfers the device capability status. Also, the corresponding terminal and system are disclosed. The present invention can centrally manage and control the terminal capability.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The patent application is a continuation of International PatentApplication No. PCT/CN2007/001371, filed Apr. 24, 2007, which claimspriority to Chinese Patent Application No. 200610115238.4, filed on Aug.11, 2006 and entitled “Method and System for Managing Terminals inCommunication System”, the contents of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to communication technology field, andparticularly to a method for a terminal to execute a managementoperation in a communication system, a terminal and a system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the development of mobile communication technologies, the functionsof terminals are increasing and becoming more and more complex, thusbringing difficulties to terminal management.

Open Mobile Alliance Device Management (OMA DM) provides a newmanagement solution, which is mainly used by a third party to manage andset environment and configuration information of a terminal (e.g. mobileterminal and function objects in the terminal) in wireless network, soas to solve problems occurring in using the terminal, to implementsoftware installation and upgrade through the wireless network, and toprovide more humanized and individualized services and improve theuser's experience. The third party may be a mobile operator, a serviceprovider or the information management department of a partner.

In the management solution of OMA DM, the terminal provides a set ofdevice management trees, and various Management Objects (MOs) areorganized on the device management trees.

The management of software components may be implemented by adding,deleting and modifying Software Component Management Objects (SCoMOs) onthe terminal. The software components include executable applicationprograms and dynamic link libraries (dlls), etc. The software may beprovided by different software providers.

The MOs for existing software components on the terminal are predisposedon the terminal. For example, the Device Management Agent (DMA) can scanall software components installed on the terminal and create relatedMOs, and then add the MOs to the management tree. The other MOs forsoftware components distributed by the DM server to the terminal arecreated under instruction of the operation commands sent from the DMserver. The other MOs for software components downloaded and installedby the user, a Diagnostic and Monitoring Enabler on the terminalmonitors the installation events on the terminal and reports informationof the software components to the DM server, and then the DM serversends an operation command to create corresponding MOs.

During the implementation of the present invention, the inventor foundthat in the above existing DM solution, the operations for softwarecomponent MOs on the terminal are managed and controlled by the DMserver, while the device capabilities on the terminal are operated bythe user directly. As information security control is enhanced, in manysecurity zones, it is necessary to disable photography and videographyfunctions of imaging device on terminals. However, it is difficult tosupervise all users in the security zone to prevent them from usingcertain devices on their terminals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method for a terminal toexecute a management operation in a communication system, a terminal anda system, so as to manage and control capabilities of the terminalcentrally.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for a terminalto execute a management operation in a communication system. The methodincludes: operating, by the terminal, a target operation node in adevice capability management object as instructed in a managementoperation command received by the terminal; and triggering, by theoperation for the target operation node, execution of a correspondingdevice capability management operation, wherein the device capabilitymanagement operation transits status of a device capability of theterminal.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal forexecuting a management operation. The terminal includes a devicemanagement agent unit and a device capability management agent unit. Thedevice management agent unit is adapted to operate a target operationnode in a device capability management object as instructed in amanagement operation command received by the device management agentunit. The device capability management agent unit is adapted to executea device capability management operation corresponding to the operationfor the target operation node performed by the device management agentunit, wherein the device capability management operation is adapted totransit status of a device capability of the terminal.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a communicationsystem for implementing terminal management. The system includes aterminal and a device management server. The device management server isadapted to send a management operation command to the terminal, whereinthe management operation command contains instruction informationinstructing the terminal to operate a target operation node in a devicecapability management object.

The terminal comprises a device management agent unit and a devicecapability management agent unit.

The device management agent unit is adapted to operate the targetoperation node in the device capability management object as instructedin the received management operation command.

The device capability management agent unit is adapted to execute adevice capability management operation corresponding to the operationfor the target operation node performed by the device management agentunit, wherein the device capability management operation is adapted totransit status of a device capability of the terminal.

It may be seen from the above technical solutions that in theembodiments of the present invention, the terminal can operate a targetoperation node of the device capability management object (DCMO)according to the received management operation command, the operationfor the target operation node triggers execution of a correspondingdevice capability management operation, and thereby the status of adevice capability of the terminal is transited to the status desired bythe initiator of the management operation command. In this way, theinitiator of the management operation command can manage and control thedevice capability of the terminal with the management operation command,for example, he/it manages and controls of the status of a devicecapability of the terminal in a zone where image shooting or resourcedownloading is forbidden for the security purpose.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system architecture of OMADM.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a first embodiment of thestructure of a device capability MO of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a second embodiment of thestructure of a device capability MO of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a third embodiment of thestructure of a device capability MO of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating commands sent from a DMserver and status transition of a device capability.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating commands sent from a user andstatus transition of a device capability.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an application of a first embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an application of a secondembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of a system ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of system architecture of OMA DM. Asshown in FIG. 1, a Device Management (DM) server 103 sends an operationcommand to a terminal 101 via a DM protocol interface. A DeviceManagement Agent (DMA) unit 102 on the terminal 101 is adapted tointerpret and execute the command from the DM server. A management treestored on the terminal 101 serves as an interface for the DM server tomanage the terminal via the DM protocol. Device management objects areprovided in the management tree, and the DM server controls themanagement objects on the terminal by operating the management objectson the management tree. The operation commands include Get, Replace,Exec, Copy and Delete, etc.

In a communication system based on DM server, a device management treeon a terminal stores MO nodes including device capability MO, softwarecomponent MO, firmware update MO, connection parameter MO, schedulingtask MO and diagnostic and monitoring MO, etc. Nodes of the devicecapability MO node correspond to device capability managementoperations. An operation for a node of the device capability MO on thedevice management tree triggers execution of a device capabilitymanagement operation corresponding to the operation for the node. Devicecapabilities are mainly hardware-related capabilities, and include, butnot are limited to USB, Camera, Blue Tooth and Infrared.

Hereunder an embodiment of a method of the present invention will bedetailed with reference to the accompanying drawings. Referring to FIG.2, the embodiment of the method includes the following processes.

In process S201, a device management agent unit on the terminal operatesa target operation node in a device capability MO of the terminalaccording to a management operation command received by the devicemanagement agent unit, that is, the terminal operates the targetoperation node in the device capability MO indicated in the managementoperation command.

In process S202, the operating of the target operation node triggers adevice capability management agent unit of the terminal to execute acorresponding device capability management operation. The devicecapability management operation transits the status of the devicecapability.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the corresponding devicecapability operation is triggered by the operating of the targetoperation node in the device capability MO. FIG. 3 shows a schematicdiagram of a first embodiment of the structure of the device capabilityMO.

As shown in FIG. 3, the Operations node has child nodes includingEnable, Disable, Start, Stop, Update, Remove and commonly used Ext(extend) node. Because the Ext node is a general node, it will not bedescribed here any more. The rest child nodes will be describedhereunder in detail.

There are two nodes in the Enable node, that is, a ServerID (serveridentifier) node and a Code node. The ServerID node stores an identifierof the device management server. The identifier of the device managementserver is written into the ServerID node by the terminal, and the devicemanagement server has only a Read-Only authority, but hasn't a Modifyauthority to the ServerID node. The Code node is adapted to store anauthentication code provided by the user or the device management serverinitiating the management operation command. If more than one devicemanagement servers manage the terminal and one of the device managementservers has the highest management authority (stores the authenticationcode for the terminal), when to enable a relevant device capability ofthe terminal, any of the rest device management servers or the userneeds to send a request to the device management server with the highestmanagement authority to obtain the authentication code and to providethe authentication code to the Enable/Code node.

There are three nodes in the Disable node, that is, a Keep_Temp(Temporarily/Keep) node, a Code node and a Timeout (time interval value)node. The Keep_Temp node is adapted to indicate whether the disabling isforced or temporary, and has a form of indicator. The Disable/Code nodeis adapted to store an authentication code sent from the devicemanagement server that has the highest management authority, and isinvisible to the user. When the device capability of the terminal is inKeep Disable status, if the user or any other device management serverwants to enable the device capability of the terminal, the user or thedevice management server needs to send a request to the devicemanagement server that has the highest management authority to obtainthe authentication code. Then the terminal authenticates validity of theauthentication code provided to the Enable/Code node by the user or theany other device management server, according to the authentication codestored in the Disable/Code node. If the authentication code isauthenticated as valid, the user or the device management server has theauthority to enable the device capability of the terminal; otherwise,the user or the device management server hasn't the Enable authority.The Timeout node stores a time interval value. After being disabled byforce (Keep Disable), if the device capability is not enabled within thespecified time interval, the terminal enables the device capabilityautomatically, so as to prevent the device capability of the terminalfrom being disabled by force for long in abnormal cases.

Start, Stop, Update and Remove nodes each serve as an executable nodeassociated with a corresponding device capability operation. The devicemanagement server can execute the management operation by means of anExec command.

Specifically, the Enable, Disable, Start, Stop, Update and Remove nodesmay store an operation indicator. Table 1 to table 12 show theattributes of the respective nodes. In the tables, Tree Occurrencerefers to the possible times of occurrence of the node in an MO on themanagement tree, Format refers to the type of the operation indicatorincluding Character and Boolean, etc., and Min. Access Types are theoperation types that may be executed by the device management server forthe node.

TABLE 1 <X>/Operation/Enable Min. Access Types Tree Occurrence Format(Minimum Access Types) ZeroOrOne Chr Get, Exec

The Enable node is adapted to enable a device capability of theterminal, so as to render the device capability of the terminal to be inEnable status.

TABLE 2 <X>/Operation/Enable/ServerID Tree Occurrence Format Min. AccessTypes ZeroOrOne Chr Get

The ServerID node stores an identifier of the device management sever.The identifier is written into the ServerID node by the terminal, andthe device management server has only a Read-Only authority but hasn't aModify authority to the Server ID node.

TABLE 3 <X>/Operation/Enable/Code Tree Occurrence Format Min. AccessTypes ZeroOrOne Chr Get, Replace

The Code node is adapted to store an authentication code provided by theuser or the device management server for enabling a device capability ofthe terminal.

TABLE 4 <X>/Operation/Disable Tree Occurrence Format Min. Access TypesZeroOrOne Chr Get, Exec

The Disable node is adapted to disable the device capability. A devicemanagement server with the authority can disable the device capabilityby executing the Disable node.

TABLE 5 <X>/Operation/Disable/Keep_Temp? Tree Occurrence Format Min.Access Types ZeroOrOne Chr Get, Exec

The disabling of the device capability by the Disable node includes KeepDisable and Temp Disable. By operating the Keep_Temp node, it may beinstructed whether to disable the device capability by force or disablethe device capability temporarily. Specifically, by modifying the valueof the Keep_Temp node, it may be instructed whether the disabling isforced or temporary when executing the Disable node.

TABLE 6 <X>/Operation/Disable/Code? Tree Occurrence Format Min. AccessTypes ZeroOrOne Chr Get, Exec

The Disable/Code node is adapted to store an authentication code forenabling the device capability. The authentication code is sent from thedevice management server that has the highest management authority, andis invisible to the user. As described above, to enable the devicecapability, the authentication code provided by the user needs to bewritten into the Enable/Code node, and then the terminal authenticatesthe authentication code in the Enable/Code node according to theauthentication code in the Disable/Code node. If the authentication codeis authenticated as valid, the Enable operation for the devicecapability by the terminal is valid; otherwise the Enable operation isinvalid.

TABLE 7 <X>/Operation/Disable/Timeout? Tree Occurrence Format Min.Access Types ZeroOrOne Chr Get, Exec

The Timeout node is adapted to store a preset time interval value. Ifthe device capability is not recovered to be in Enable status within thespecified time interval, the terminal enables the device capabilityautomatically without the Enable operation by the device managementserver. That mechanism can prevent the device capability from beingdisabled for long in abnormal cases.

TABLE 8 <X>/Operation/Start Tree Occurrence Format Min. Access TypesZeroOrOne Chr Get, Exec

The Start node is adapted to start a device capability (includinginternal device capability and external device capability). By executingthe operation of the Start node, the device management server can startthe device capability. It is noted that for some device capabilities,Enable is not equivalent to Start. For example, for the cameracapability in a terminal, after the terminal executes an Enableoperation, the camera is only in available status, but has not taken animage indeed. To take an image, it is necessary to execute a Startoperation. For some device capabilities (e.g. Infrared capability),Enable is equivalent to Start, and in that case, only one of the Enablenode or the Start node is necessary to be added under the Operationsnode.

TABLE 9 <X>/Operation/Stop Tree Occurrence Format Min. Access TypesZeroOrOne Chr Get, Exec

The Stop node is adapted to stop the device capability. By executing theoperation of this node, the device management server can stop the devicecapability. The difference between the Stop and Disable nodes is similarto that between the Start and Enable nodes, and therefore will not bedescribed further.

TABLE 10 <X>/Operation/Update Tree Occurrence Format Min. Access TypesZeroOrOne Chr Get, Exec

The Update node is adapted to update the driver of the devicecapability.

TABLE 11 <X>/Operation/Remove Tree Occurrence Format Min. Access TypesZeroOrOne Chr Get, Exec

The Remove node is adapted to remove the device capability.

TABLE 12 <X>/Status Tree Occurrence Format Min. Access Types ZeroOrOneChr Get

On the device capability management tree, the Status node, which is atthe same level as the Operations node, is adapted to store currentstatus of a device capability of the terminal. Possible status types ofthe terminal device capability include Enable, Temp Disable, KeepDisable, Ready and Start, etc. The relationship between the devicecapability management operations triggered by operations for a targetoperation node and the status transition of a device capability is shownin FIG. 6. For management operation commands to the target operationnode from the device management server, status types of the terminaldevice capability mainly include:

Ready status, which indicates that the device capability may beinstalled on the terminal;

Enable status, which indicates that the device capability is in enabledstatus;

Temp Disable status, which indicates that the device capability of theterminal is disabled temporarily; the user can enable the devicecapability by means of an Enable operation; or, which can be changed bymeans of sending an appropriate management operation (e.g. Enable orKeep Disable) from the device management server;

Keep Disable status, which indicates that the device capability of theterminal is disabled by force; this status can't changed by the userthrough operating the target operation node in management tree, but canonly be changed by the device management server through sending anappropriate management operation (e.g. Enable or Temp Disable); and

Start status, which indicates that the device capability of the terminalis started.

The user can operate the device capability of the terminal by directlyinitiating an operation to the device management agent unit via aninteractive interface of the terminal or by sending a command to thedevice management agent via the smart card on the terminal. FIG. 7 showsthe commands from the terminal for operating a target operation node ofa device capability MO on a management tree and the status transition ofthe device capability. Compared with FIG. 6, there is no Keep Disablestatus in the status of the device capability and no Keep Disableoperation in the executable operation commands in FIG. 7, because theuser is unable to transit the status of the device capability of theterminal to Keep Disable. When the device capability is in Keep Disablestatus, it is necessary to judge the authority of the user and that ofthe device management server. The management operations executable forthe user are different from those executable for the device managementserver. When the device capability is in Keep Disable status, the usercan't change the status by executing a management operation, in otherwords, the device management server has a higher device capabilitymanagement authority than the user.

The operation commands from the device management server and theoperation commands from the user are illustrated in the following table.The table shows the management operations available for the devicecapability of the terminal in different status.

TABLE 13 Management Operations Status of device Management operationsExecutable for device capability executable for user management ServerEnable Temp Disable Temp Disable Start Keep Disable Remove Start RemoveReady Enable Enable Update Update Temp Disable Enable Enable KeepDisable Keep Disable Temp Disable Enable Start Stop Stop

It is noted that the structure of the device capability MO shown in FIG.3 is only an example, and in practical applications, the devicecapability MO structures are not limited to this structure. Devicecapability MOs in different structures may be defined for terminals withdifferent device capabilities. Another device capability MO structurewill be described hereunder. FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of asecond embodiment of a device capability MO structure of the presentinvention. The main difference between the device capability MOstructure of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4 and that of the firstembodiment shown in FIG. 3 lies in that, in the first embodiment, thetwo device capability management operations Keep Disable and TempDisable correspond to the same target operation node (Keep_Temp node),while in the second embodiment, the two device capability managementoperations correspond to a target operation node respectively, that is,the Keep Disable management operation corresponds to the Keep Disablenode and the Temp Disable management operation corresponds to the TempDisable node.

Moreover, in the second embodiment, the Enable node, the Keep Disablenode and the Temp Disable node have no child node (e.g. the ServerIDnode, Code node and Timeout node as shown in FIG. 3). As mentioned inthe description of the structure as shown in FIG. 3, the ServerID nodeand the Code node are provided to implement the technical solutionrelated to authentication code, and the Timeout node is provided toprevent the device capability from disabled for long in abnormal cases.Therefore, these nodes are optional, and are omitted in the technicalsolution of the second embodiment as shown in FIG. 4.

Other nodes shown in FIG. 4, such as the Start node, the Stop node, theUpdate node and the Remove node, are identical to the nodes with thesame name as shown in FIG. 3, and thus will not be described further.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a third embodiment of a devicecapability MO structure of the present invention.

The main difference between the device capability MO structure of thethird embodiment shown in FIG. 5 and the structure of the firstembodiment shown in FIG. 3 lies in that, in the third embodiment, thedevice capability management operations Enable, Keep Disable and TempDisable correspond to the same target operation node (Enable_Disable).To execute any of the three device capability management operations, thedevice management server or the user needs to modify the value of thenode directly, and different values of the node correspond to differentdevice capability management operations. For example, a value 0 of theEnable_Disable node corresponds to the Enable operation, a value 1 ofthe Enable_Disable node corresponds to the Temp Disable operation, and avalue 2 of the Enable_Disable node corresponds to the Keep Disableoperation.

The structure of device capability management object shown in FIG. 5will be described hereunder in detail.

The child nodes under the Operations node include Policy, Start, Stop,Update and Remove nodes. The child nodes under the Policy node includeEnable_Disable, ServerID, Code and Timeout nodes, each of which is aleaf node. These leaf nodes are described as follows.

The Enable_Disable node may correspond to three device capabilitymanagement operations including Enable, Temp Disable and Keep Disable.The Enable_Disable node may be an indicator node having three values.Different operations for this node (i.e. assigning different values tothe node) correspond to different device capability managementoperations.

The nodes under the Policy node have the data structures as follows.

TABLE 14 <X>/Operation/Policy/Enable_Disable Tree Occurrence Format Min.Access Types ZeroOrOne Chr Get

TABLE 15 <X>/Operation/Policy/Code Tree Occurrence Format Min. AccessTypes ZeroOrOne Chr Replace

The Code node is adapted to authenticate validity of the devicecapability management operations. An authentication code is written intothe Code node by the device management server. Then the authenticationcode provided by the initiator of a management operation command may beauthenticated according to the authentication code in the Code node.

TABLE 16 <X>/Operation/Policy/ServerID Tree Occurrence Format Min.Access Types ZeroOrOne Chr Get

The ServerID node has the same meaning as that of the ServerID nodeshown in FIG. 3, and therefore will not be described further.

TABLE 17 <X>/Operation/Policy/Timeout Tree Occurrence Format Min. AccessTypes ZeroOrOne Chr Get

The Timeout node has an identical meaning as that of the Timeout nodeshown in FIG. 3, and therefore will not be described further.

Hereunder an application of a first embodiment of the present inventionwill be detailed with reference to FIG. 8. This embodiment will bedescribed by example of an operation for the Enable node in thestructure of the device capability management object shown in FIG. 3.

In process S601, the external system sends a device capabilitymanagement operation associated with the Enable node by sending amanagement operation request to the device capability management servervia Web Service Interface (WSI) protocol.

In process S602, the device capability management server authenticatesthe identity of the external system and verifies the syntax of therelevant management operation, creates a corresponding device capabilitymanagement operation command according to the management operationrequest, and then sends the device capability management operationcommand to the device management server.

In process S603, the device management server sends the devicecapability management operation commands to a device management agentunit of the terminal. The management operation command is sent by meansof operating an executable node on the management tree by the devicemanagement server. Specifically, the device management server sends anauthentication code for enabling the device capability of the terminal(this procedure is optional) to the terminal, and then executes theEnable node by sending an executable command to the terminal, so as todirectly execute the target operation node corresponding to themanagement operation, for example,

<Replace> <CmdID>3</CmdID> <Item> <Target><LocURI>./USB/Operation/Enable/Code</LocURI> </Target><Data>!@ewenewpjgen99793-2!@</Data> </Item> </Replace> <Exec><CmdID>3</CmdID> <Item> <Target> <LocURI>./USB/Operation/Enable</LocURI></Target> </Item> </Exec>

It is noted that each device capability (e.g. Camera, Blue Tooth orInfrared) of the terminal corresponds to a set of device capability MOs,and the management operation command indicates a target operation nodein a certain device capability management object. Therefore, accordingto the path information of the target operation node indicated in themanagement operation command, the terminal can know on which devicecapability the management operation is to be performed.

In process S604, the device management agent unit operates the node inthe device capability MO on the management tree according to the devicecapability management operation command sent by the device managementserver, to execute the corresponding target operation node Enable nodeon the management tree with the command.

In process S605, the device management agent unit operates the targetoperation node Enable node on the management tree, triggering anotification to instruct the device capability management agent unit toexecute the device capability management operation corresponding to theoperation for the Enable node.

The path involved in the operating indicates the device capability to beoperated.

In process S606, upon receipt of the notification from the devicemanagement agent unit, the device capability management agent unitexecutes the corresponding device capability management operation. Inorder to ensure the device capability management operation notified bythe device management agent unit to be executed is valid, the devicecapability management agent unit authenticates legality (i.e. validity)of the device capability management operation before executing thedevice capability management operation. On one hand, the devicecapability management agent unit authenticates the authentication codeprovided by the initiator of the management operation command to confirmthat the initiator of the management operation command has a sufficientauthority; on the other hand, the device capability management agentunit verifies whether the device capability management operation is avalid management operation in the current status of the devicecapability of the terminal, mainly because only part of managementoperations may be executed when the device capability of the terminal isin a certain status.

It is noted that the setting of the contents related to theauthentication code is to prevent the condition that the devicecapability is disabled by the device management server for long inabnormal cases. In such an abnormal case, the user can obtain theauthentication code from the device management server and then enablethe device capability of the terminal. In this way, the technicalsolution of the embodiment is consummated. If the information indicatedin the device capability management operation command received by theterminal is not “Enable”, the relevant procedures for authenticating theauthentication code are unnecessary.

If it is not necessary to consider the above abnormal condition, i.e. ifthe device capability of the terminal is currently in Keep Disablestatus and the user is absolutely forbidden to enable the devicecapability by himself, it is not necessary to execute the setting andprocedures related to the authentication code. In such a case, theterminal determines whether the Enable operation to be executed is validaccording to the information about the initiator of the devicemanagement operation command. If the terminal identifies that theinitiator is a DM server, it determines that the Enable operation isvalid and then executes the Enable operation; on the contrary, if theterminal identifies that the initiator is the user, it determines thatthe Enable operation is invalid and does not execute the Enableoperation. Accordingly, it is not necessary to create a Code child nodeunder the Enable node and the Disable node on the management tree of theterminal. When the device capability of the terminal is in Keep Disablestatus, it is not necessary for the initiator of the Enable managementoperation command to provide the authentication code and for the devicecapability management agent unit to execute the procedures forauthenticating the authentication code.

In process S607, the device capability management agent unit sends theresult of the device capability management operation to the devicemanagement agent unit.

In process S608, the device management agent unit sends the result ofthe device capability management operation to the device managementserver via the DM protocol.

In process S609, the device management server sends the result of thedevice capability management operation to the device capabilitymanagement server.

In process S610, the device capability management server sends theresult of the device capability management operation to the externalsystem according to a policy.

The external system performs subsequent operations according to theresult of the device capability management operation. The management ofthe device capability of the terminal is completed.

In the above embodiment, the target operation node may be an executablenode or an indicator node. If the target operation node on the devicemanagement tree is an indicator node, the device capability managementagent unit is usually unable to receive the notification of the devicecapability management operation from the device management agent unitdirectly, and thus a third-party monitoring unit is required to monitorthe value of the target operation node of the device capability. Achange in the value of the target operation node triggers the monitoringunit to instruct the device capability management agent unit to executea corresponding device capability management operation. The third-partymonitoring unit may be implemented with a monitoring program which maybe a Scheduling task or a diagnostic and monitoring task.

Hereunder a second embodiment of a method of the present invention willbe detailed with reference to FIG. 9. This embodiment involves the abovemonitoring unit.

In process S701, the external system sends a device capabilitymanagement operation request to the device capability management servervia the WSI protocol.

In process S702, the device capability management server authenticatesthe identity of the external system and verifies the syntax of therelevant management operation, creates a corresponding device capabilitymanagement operation command according to the management operationrequest, and then sends the device capability management operationcommand to the device management server.

In process S703, the device management server sends the devicecapability management operation command to the device management agentunit. The management operation command is sent by means of operating anindicator node in the device capability MO on the management tree by theDM server. Specifically, the DM server sends an authentication code forenabling the device capability of the terminal to the terminal, and thensends a Replace command to the terminal to modify the value of thetarget operation node corresponding to the device capability managementoperation, for example,

<Replace> <CmdID>3</CmdID> <Item> <Target><LocURI>./USB/Operation/Enable/Code</LocURI> </Target><Data>!@ewenewpjgen99793-2@!</Data> </Item> </Replace> <Replace><CmdID>3</CmdID> <Item> <Target> <LocURI>./USB/Operation/Enable</LocURI><Value>true</Value> </Target> </Item> </Replace>

In process S704, the device management agent unit operates the targetoperation node, i.e. the Enable node on the device capability managementtree according to the Enable operation sent from the device managementserver, to modify the value of the target operation node to be “true”.

In process S705, after the value of the Enable node is modified, themonitoring unit detects the change in the value of the Enable node.

In process S706, the monitoring unit sends a notification to the devicecapability management agent unit to instruct the device capabilitymanagement agent unit to execute a corresponding device capabilitymanagement operation.

In process S707, upon receipt of the notification from the monitoringunit, the device capability management agent unit executes thecorresponding device capability management operation. Optionally, thedevice capability management agent unit authenticates validity of thedevice capability management operation before executing thecorresponding device capability management operation. Specifically, thedevice capability management agent unit authenticates the authenticationcode provided by the initiator of the management operation and verifieswhether the device capability management operation is a valid managementoperation in the current status of the device capability of theterminal.

In process S708, the device capability management agent unit sends theresult of the device capability management operation to the devicemanagement agent unit.

In process S709, the device management agent unit sends the result ofthe device capability management operation to the device managementserver via the DM protocol.

In process S710, the device management server sends the result of thedevice capability management operation to the device capabilitymanagement server.

In process S711, the device capability management server sends theresult of the device capability management operation to the externalsystem according to a policy.

The external system performs subsequent operations according to theresult of the device capability management operation. The management ofthe device capability of the terminal is completed.

Hereunder supplemental description is made on the device capabilitymanagement operation.

For a device capability management operation on the management tree, ifthe device capability of the terminal is currently in Enable or Startstatus and the management operation to be executed is a Start or Stopoperation for the device capability, the Start or Stop operation will bereferred to as a Use operation. The Use operation implements the Startor Stop operation for the device capability driver (i.e. Start or Stopoperation for the device capability) by invoking an ApplicationProgramming Interface (API) function based on the device capabilitydriver.

To implement the Start or Stop operation for the device capabilitydriver, it is necessary for the Use operation to invoke the APIfunction, so the Use operation is different from other device capabilitymanagement operations in implementation. Consequently, in the processS606 for the first embodiment of the method inventive and the processS707 for the second embodiment, upon receipt of the device capabilitymanagement operation, the device capability management agent unit needsto obtain the information on the current status of the device capabilityof the terminal from the Status node of the device capability MO, andneeds to obtain the information on the device capability managementoperation corresponding to the target operation node from the devicemanagement agent unit. If the obtained current status of the devicecapability is Enable or Start status and the current device capabilitymanagement operation is Start or Stop (i.e. a Use operation), the devicecapability management operation needs to be implemented through an API,no matter whether the device capability management operation is from theDM server or from the user.

For some management operations other than the Use operations, which canbe executed by the device capability management agent, it is notnecessary to use an API to transit the status of the device capability.

Whether for Use operations or non-Use operations, it may be determinedaccording to the current status of the device capability of the terminaland the device capability management operation to be executed (i.e. thedevice capability management operation corresponding to the operationfor the target operation node) whether the device capability managementoperation can be executed or not (i.e. whether the device capabilitymanagement operation is a valid one). The procedures for thedetermination, the execution of the device capability managementoperation and the transition of the status of the device capability aredescribed as follows.

If the current status of the device capability of the terminal is Startstatus and the device capability management operation is a Stopoperation, it is determined that the device capability managementoperation is valid, and the device capability management operation isexecuted (i.e. the device capability is stopped) and the status of thedevice capability is transited to Enable status.

If the current status of the device capability of the terminal is Startstatus while the device capability management operation is not a Stopoperation, it is determined the device capability management operationis invalid. If the current status of the device capability of theterminal is Enable status, and the device capability managementoperation is a Start operation, it is determined that the devicecapability management operation is valid, and the device capabilitymanagement operation is executed (i.e. the device capability is started)and the status of the device capability is transited to Start status.

If the current status of the device capability of the terminal is Enablestatus and the device capability management operation is a Temp Disableoperation, it is determined that the device capability managementoperation is valid, and the device capability management operation isexecuted (i.e. the device capability is disabled temporarily) and thestatus of the device capability is transited to Temp Disable status.

If the current status of the device capability of the terminal is Enablestatus and the device capability management operation is a Keep Disableoperation, it is determined that the device capability managementoperation is valid, and the device capability management operation isexecuted (i.e. the device capability is disabled by force) and thestatus of the device capability is transited to Keep Disable status.

If the current status of the device capability of the terminal is Enablestatus and the device capability management operation is a Removeoperation, it is determined the device capability management operationis valid, and the device capability management operation is executed(i.e. the device capability of the terminal is removed) and the statusof the device capability is transited to Ready status.

If the current status of the device capability of the terminal is Enablestatus while the device capability management operation is not a Startoperation, a Temp Disable operation, a Keep Disable operation or aRemove operation, it is determined that the device capability managementoperation is invalid.

If the current status of the device capability of the terminal is TempDisable status and the device capability management operation is anEnable operation, it is determined that the device capability managementoperation is valid, and the device capability management operation isexecuted (i.e. the device capability is enabled) and the status of thedevice capability is transited to Enable status.

If the current status of the device capability of the terminal is TempDisable status while the device capability management operation is notan Enable operation or a Keep Disable operation, it is determined thatthe device capability management operation is invalid.

If the current status of the device capability of the terminal is Readystatus and the device capability management operation is an Enableoperation, it is determined that the device capability managementoperation is valid, and the device capability management operation isexecuted (i.e. the device capability is enabled) and the status of thedevice capability is transited to Enable status.

If the current status of the device capability of the terminal is Readystatus and the device capability management operation is an Updateoperation, it is determined that the device capability managementoperation is valid, and the device capability management operation isexecuted (i.e. the driver of the device capability on the terminal isupdated) and the status of the device capability is kept in Readystatus.

If the status of the device capability of the terminal is Ready statuswhile the device capability management operation is not an Enable orUpdate operation, it is determined that the device capability managementoperation is invalid.

The user and the device capability management server have differentoperation authorities for device capability management operations incertain status. For these operations, it is necessary to determinewhether the management operation command corresponding to the devicecapability management operation is initiated from the user or the devicemanagement server. Specifically, whether the device capabilitymanagement operation is valid needs to be determined according to thecurrent status of the device capability, the device capabilitymanagement operation to be executed and the information on the initiatorof the management operation command. There is no precedence order ofjudgment among these aspects; the judgment procedures are as follows.

For a technical solution that doesn't involves an authentication code,if the management operation command received by the terminal is from theuser (i.e. the user sends the command through the terminal) and thecurrent status of the device capability of the terminal is Keep Disablestatus, it is determined that the device capability management operationis invalid. For a technical solution that involves an authenticationcode, if the management operation command is from the user while theauthentication code provided by the user is authenticated as valid (i.e.the user has obtained authorization from the device management serverwith a management authority higher than that of the user), it isdetermined that the device capability management operation is valid;otherwise, if the authentication code provided by the user isauthenticated as invalid, it is determined that the device capabilitymanagement operation is invalid.

In the case that the management operation command received by theterminal is from a device management server that has a device capabilitymanagement authority over the terminal, if the current status of thedevice capability of the terminal is Keep Disable status and the devicecapability management operation is an Enable operation, the devicecapability management agent unit is instructed to enable the devicecapability, and the status of the device capability is transited toEnable status. If the current status of the device capability is KeepDisable status and the device capability management operation is a TempDisable operation, the device capability management agent unit isinstructed to disable the device capability temporarily, and the statusof the device capability is transited to Temp Disable status. The abovecase is mainly applicable to the condition that there is only one devicemanagement server having a device capability management authority overthe terminal. It is understood that other device capability managementservers that have no device capability management authority over theterminal usually generally can't send a correct management operationcommand to the terminal. Even if the management operation command iscorrect, the terminal can identify that the device management server hasno management authority and thereby determine that the managementoperation command is invalid.

In practice, there may be more than one device management server thatcan manage the device capability of the terminal, and only one of thedevice management servers that has the highest device capabilitymanagement authority has the authority to enable the device capabilityof the terminal when the device capability is in Keep Disable status. Inthis case, the Enable operation corresponding to the managementoperation command sent from the device management server with thehighest device capability management authority is valid (the currentstatus of the device capability is in Keep Disable status), while theEnable operation corresponding to the management operation command sentfrom other device management server is invalid (the current status ofthe device capability is in Keep Disable status).

FIG. 10 shows a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a communicationsystem for implementing terminal management provided in the presentinvention. The communication system mainly includes a terminal 800 and adevice management server 803.

The device management server 803 is adapted to send a managementoperation command to the terminal 800 (specifically, a device managementagent unit 802). The management operation command contains instructioninformation that instructs the terminal to operate the target operationnode in the device capability management object, e.g. informationindicating the name of the target operation node. If the targetoperation node on the terminal management tree is an indicator node, theinstruction information may contain the value to be changed to for thetarget operation node.

The terminal 800 further includes the device management agent unit 802and a device capability management agent unit 801. The device managementagent unit 802 is adapted to operate the target operation node in thedevice capability MO as indicated in the received: management operationcommand. The device capability management agent unit 801 is adapted toexecute a device capability management operation corresponding to theoperation for the target operation node performed by the devicemanagement agent unit 802. The device capability management operation isadapted to transit the status of the device capability.

The target operation node in this embodiment may be an executable node.The operation for the target operation node performed by the devicemanagement agent unit 802 may be executing the target operation nodedirectly. The operation for the target operation node triggers thedevice management agent unit 802 to instruct the device capabilitymanagement agent unit 801 to execute the corresponding device capabilitymanagement operation. The target operation node may also be an indicatornode, and the operation for the target operation node performed by thedevice management agent unit 802 may be modifying the value of thetarget operation node. If the target operation node is an indicatornode, the terminal 800 further includes a monitoring unit 804. Themonitoring unit 804 is adapted to monitor the value of the targetoperation node in the device capability management object. Upondetection of a change in the value of the target operation node, themonitoring unit 804 instructs the device capability management agentunit to execute the corresponding device capability managementoperation.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the communication systemfurther includes an external system 805 and a device capabilitymanagement server 806. The external system 805 is adapted to send adevice capability management operation request to the device capabilitymanagement server 806. The device capability management server 806receives the device capability management operation request from theexternal system 805, generates, corresponding to the device capabilitymanagement operation request, a management operation command foroperating the target operation node, and sends the management operationcommand to the device management server 803. In addition, the devicecapability management server 806 is also adapted to authenticate theidentity of the external system 805.

It is noted that the device capability management server 806 may beintegrated into the device management server 803, so that the devicemanagement server 803 authenticates the identity of the external system805, receives the device capability management operation request fromthe external system 805, generates the corresponding device capabilitymanagement operation command, and sends the generated correspondingdevice capability management operation command to the terminal 800.

The device capability management agent unit 801 in the terminal 800executes the corresponding device capability management operation, andforwards the operation result to the device management server 803 viathe device management agent unit 802. Then the device management server803 forwards the operation result to the external system 805 via thedevice capability management server 806.

The structure of the device capability management agent unit 801 in theterminal 800 will be detailed hereunder. The device capabilitymanagement agent unit 801 executes a device capability managementoperation which may be an Update, Remove, Start, Enable, Stop, TempDisable or Keep Disable operation. The device capability managementagent unit 801 transits the status of a device capability to Readystatus, Start status, Enable status, Temp Disable status or Keep Disablestatus by means of the device capability management operation. Therelationship between the device capability management operations andstatus transition has been described in detail previously, and thereforewill not be described further.

The device capability management agent unit 801 includes a validitydetermining unit and a device capability management operation executingunit. The validity determining unit is adapted to determine whether thedevice capability management operation corresponding to the operationfor the target operation node performed by the device management agentunit 802 is valid. The device capability management operation executingunit is adapted to execute the device capability management operation ifthe validity determining unit determines that the device capabilitymanagement operation is valid.

The validity determining unit includes an obtaining unit 807, a statusidentifying unit 808, an initiator identifying unit 809, a managementoperation identifying unit 810 and an authority determining unit 814.

The obtaining unit 807 is adapted to obtain information on the currentstatus of the device capability, information on the initiator of themanagement operation command and information on the device capabilitymanagement operation corresponding to the operation for the targetoperation node performed by the device management agent unit.

The status identifying unit 808 is adapted to identify the currentstatus of the device capability from the information on the currentstatus of the device capability provided from the obtaining unit 807,and send the identified current status of the device capability to theauthority determining unit 814.

The initiator identifying unit 809 is adapted to identify whether theinitiator is the device management server 803 or the user from theinformation on the initiator of the management operation commandprovided from the obtaining unit 807, and send the identification resultto the authority determining unit 814.

The management operation identifying unit 810 is adapted to identify thedevice capability management operation corresponding to the operationfor the target operation node performed by the device management agentunit 802 from the information on device capability management operationprovided from the obtaining unit 807, and send the identification resultto the authority determining unit 814.

The authority determining unit 814 is adapted to determine whether thedevice capability management operation corresponding to the operationfor the target operation node performed by the device management agentunit 802 is valid according to the obtained determining condition. Thedetermining condition includes the information provided from the statusidentifying unit 808, the initiator identifying unit 809 and themanagement operation identifying unit 810. If determining that thedevice capability management operation to be executed (i.e. the devicecapability management operation corresponding to the operation for thetarget operation node performed by the device management agent unit 802)is valid according to the determining condition, the authoritydetermining unit 814 will notify the device capability managementoperation executing unit 811. The device capability management operationexecuting unit 811 is adapted to execute the device capabilitymanagement operation if the authority determining unit 814 determinesthat the device capability management operation is valid.

The determination by the authority determining unit 814, the operationexecution by the device capability management operation executing unit811 and the transition of the device capability status are described asfollows.

If the device capability management operation is a Start operation andthe current status of the device capability is Enable status, theauthority determining unit 814 instructs the device capabilitymanagement operation executing unit 811 to execute the Start operationand the status of the device capability is transited to Start status. Ifthe device capability management operation is a Stop operation and thecurrent status of the device capability is Start status, the authoritydetermining unit 814 instructs the device capability managementoperation executing unit 811 to execute the Stop operation and thestatus of the device capability is transited to Stop status.Additionally, the terminal 800 further includes an API unit 812. The APIunit 812 is adapted to transit the status of the device capability bymeans of an Application Programming Interface (API) function uponreceipt of the Start or Stop operation from the device capabilitymanagement operation executing unit 811.

If the current status of the device capability is Enable status and thedevice capability management operation is a Temp Disable operation, theauthority determining unit 814 instructs the device capabilitymanagement operation executing unit 811 to disable the device capabilitytemporarily and the status of the device capability is transited to TempDisable status.

If the current status of the device capability is Enable status and thedevice capability management operation is a Remove operation, theauthority determining unit 814 instructs the device capabilitymanagement operation executing unit 811 to remove the driver of thedevice capability and the status of the device capability is transitedto Ready status.

If the current status of the device capability is Temp Disable statusand the device capability management operation is an Enable operation,the authority determining unit 814 instructs the device capabilitymanagement operation executing unit 811 to enable the device capabilityand the status of the device capability is transited to Enable status.

If the current status of the device capability is Ready status and thedevice capability management operation is an Enable operation, theauthority determining unit 814 instructs the device capabilitymanagement operation executing unit 811 to enable the device capabilityand the status of the device capability is transited to Enable status.

If the current status of the device capability is Ready status and thedevice capability management operation is an Update operation, theauthority determining unit 814 instructs the device capabilitymanagement operation executing unit 811 to update the driver of thedevice capability and the status of the device capability is kept inReady status.

If the management operation command corresponding to the devicecapability management operation is from the user and the current statusof the device capability is Keep Disable status, the authoritydetermining unit 814 notifies the device capability management operationexecuting unit 811 that the device capability management operation isinvalid.

If the management operation command corresponding to the devicecapability management operation is from the device management server803, the status of the device capability is Keep Disable status and thedevice capability management operation is Enable operation, then theauthority determining unit 814 instructs the device capabilitymanagement operation executing unit 811 to enable the device capabilityand the status of the device capability is transited to Enable status.

The validity determining unit described above is mainly used for thetechnical solution in which it is unnecessary to consider the conditionthat the device capability of the terminal is kept disabled for long inabnormal cases. In a technical solution in which authentication ofauthentication code is provided against the abnormal condition, thevalidity determining unit in the device capability management agent unit801 determines whether the authentication code provided by the initiatorof the management operation command is valid according to theauthentication code stored on the terminal, and authenticates validityof the device capability management operation to be executed accordingto the current status of the device capability. If the current status ofthe device capability is Keep Disable status, the device capabilitymanagement operation to be executed is an Enable operation or a TempDisable operation, and the authentication code provided by the initiatorof the management operation command (who is the device management server803 or the user) is authenticated as valid, then the validitydetermining unit determines the device capability management operationas valid and instruct the device capability management operationexecuting unit 811 to execute the corresponding operation.

The present invention also discloses a terminal for executing amanagement operation. An embodiment of the structure of the terminal isidentical to that of the terminal 800 in the embodiment of thecommunication system as described above, and therefore will not bedescribed further.

Any modification, equivalent replacement or improvement to the method orterminal system provided in the embodiments without departing from thespirit and principle of the present invention should fall into theprotected scope of the present invention.

1. A terminal for executing a management operation, wherein the terminalcomprises a device management agent unit and a device capabilitymanagement agent unit, wherein the device management agent unit isadapted to operate a target operation node in a device capabilitymanagement object as instructed in a management operation commandreceived by the device management agent unit; and the device capabilitymanagement agent unit is adapted to execute a device capabilitymanagement operation corresponding to the operation for the targetoperation node performed by the device management agent unit, whereinthe device capability management operation is adapted to transit statusof a device capability of the terminal; wherein the device capabilitymanagement agent unit comprises: a validity determining unit adapted todetermine whether the device capability management operationcorresponding to the operation for the target operation node performedby the device management agent unit is valid; a device capabilitymanagement operation executing unit adapted to execute the devicecapability management operation when the device capability managementoperation is determined as valid by the validity determining unit;wherein the validity determining unit comprises: an obtaining unitadapted to obtain information on current status of the devicecapability, information on an initiator of the management operationcommand and information on the device capability management operationcorresponding to the operation for the target operation node performedby the device management agent unit; a status identifying unit adaptedto identify the current status of the device capability of the terminalfrom the information on the status of the device capability provided bythe obtaining unit; an initiator identifying unit adapted to identifywhether the initiator is a device management server or a user of theterminal from the information on the initiator of the managementoperation command provided by the obtaining unit; a management operationidentifying unit adapted to identify the device capability managementoperation corresponding to the operation for the target operation nodeperformed by the device management agent unit from the information onthe device capability management operation provided by the obtainingunit; an authority determining unit adapted to determine whether thedevice capability management operation corresponding to the operationfor the target operation node performed by the device management agentunit is valid according to the obtained determining conditionscomprising the information provided by the status identifying unit, theinitiator identifying unit and the management operation identifyingunit; the device capability management operation executing unit adaptedto execute the device capability management operation when the devicecapability management operation is determined to be valid by theauthority determining unit.
 2. The terminal according to claim 1,wherein the device management agent unit is adapted to operate thetarget operation node in the device capability management object asinstructed in the management operation command received from a devicemanagement server with a device management authority higher than that ofa user of the terminal.
 3. The terminal according to claim 1, whereinthe target operation node is an indicator node, and the operation forthe target operation node performed by the device management agent unitis to modify the value of the target operation node; and the terminalfurther comprises: a monitoring unit adapted to monitor the value of thetarget operation node in the device capability management object, andupon detection of a change in the value of the target operation node,instructs the device capability management agent unit to execute thedevice capability management operation corresponding to the operationfor the target operation node.
 4. The terminal according to claim 1,wherein the device capability management operation executed by thedevice capability management agent unit is an Update or Remove operationthat is adapted to transit the status of the device capability to Readystatus, a Start operation that is adapted to transit the status of thedevice capability to Start status, or an Enable or Stop operation thatis adapted to transit the status of the device capability to Enablestatus, a Temp Disable operation that is adapted to transit the statusof the device capability to Temp Disable status, or a Keep Disableoperation that is adapted to transit the status of the device capabilityto Keep Disable status.